This review contains spoilers up until Season 2 of Classroom of the Elite
Every single episode of Classroom of the Elite starts with a quote. This way of starting an episode is used ubiquitously enough so that it can be considered sort of a trademark to the anime. I even used a quote from the second OP made in the format of these quotes. But since they are so tied to the identity of the show itself, do these quotes mean anything in terms of their story or themes? If they aren’t, do they at least serve as good food for thought? The answer to both of those questions is a definitive no. Even though it is the first impression of the series one would get, these quotes barely mean anything. These quotes are the equivalent of advice that is inside of a fortune cookie, like "Remember to keep a clear head at difficult times". Many times, they can be vague to the point of meaninglessness, like "The wound is at her heart" and "The material has to be created". This can even go to the point of self-parody with quotes like, "If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake". I really hope this one is just a mistranslation. I predict that the thought process behind choosing these quotes is very similar to how I chose the quote used for the title of the review. I just copy and pasted it because I thought it sounded cool. But what I believe to be the most important quote when it comes to understanding Classroom of the Elite as a whole is the quote at the beginning of Season 2, Episode 7.
Compared to many other quotes, this one actually makes a modicum of sense. However, there is still a deep irony behind it. This quote talks about the dispense of the “necessity of reflection” in favor of taking more convenient solutions, but the necessity of reflection discussed here is something that should be taken into account by the series at large. But when explaining why this is the case, it doesn’t properly fit into the categories provided by the quote. To believe everything and to doubt everything is a convenient solution, but it doesn’t acknowledge that doing both in the wrong places calls for the necessity of reflection just as much. But there is also a third thing, aside from doubt or belief, that calls for a look into the mirror. It is that it is blind. It is blind to its own problems, its own potential, and the type of story it truly wants to be. Classroom of the Elite doesn’t truly know what it is saying, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t saying anything.
To demystify what the text of Classroom of the Elite says requires deep and thorough analysis. There is no better place to start analyzing than inspecting its world-building. While it may seem like a minor part of the story, a story’s world is like another character that lives alongside the rest of the characters. It is an important artery for the story, and it becomes even more important when its world becomes more fleshed out and intriguing. In theory, Classroom of the Elite should have a world like that.
A Description of the World of Classroom of the Elite (sorta...)
The world of Classroom of the Elite is a terrifying dystopia. It takes place in modern-day Japan. A modern-day Japan that is meant to be an exact copy of the one that we live in. The main difference however is that its top school is a boarding school called the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing School. This school, despite being a school considered the best school in all of Japan, is an absolute nightmare. It is based around a hierarchy where its students are seemingly arbitrarily placed within its class structure before they even step into the school. This class structure also leads to a social structure, where those in higher classes look down on lower classes, especially those in the lower class, Class D. By the end of the first week of school, an ultra-competitive mindset is instilled within students of lower classes to get to the top class, Class A. The systems in place at the school coupled with a competitive culture motivate an inner society of students where classism is the norm. However, the cruelest part of this school society is the complete lack of teacher supervision. No matter what event happens in the school, teacher intervention remains rare. This leads to power vacuums, where students can take up the mantle of the class leader. However, their place as head of the class isn’t the same as a true adult teacher. Nothing is stopping these student leaders from being cruel and heartless. And in a school culture where competition is at the top are at the top of most’s minds, this leads to many actions where students bully others to the point of near torture to go unpunished. The students produced by this school will be adults who are worse as people than the middle schoolers that stepped into the school on their very first day.
This is the world of Classroom of the Elite. Well, it kinda is. You see, while most of my description of Classroom of the Elite’s world is technically correct, this isn’t the way that it is framed by the story. Despite this world being almost overtly allegorical for the problems of a hierarchical society, the series is either completely unwilling to explore any of the world’s implications. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is completely unaware of these issues since Ryuen’s monologue at the end of Episode 11 of Season 2 is rather spot on in describing what is exactly wrong with the school as a school. He describes the brutal atmosphere the school facilitates very accurately. However, the story doesn’t take the final step in describing these systemic problems as things that need fixing. The final step it takes instead whenever there is a moment where these systemic issues need to be addressed is commonly waived off with an excuse along the lines of, “It prepares the students for society in the real world”. It is also the line of justification Ryuen in his monologue about the school when he says the line, “The hints to realizing that are all around us in our daily lives”.
And even when it isn’t used to justify the problems with the school system, getting prepared for life in the real world is a concept that is consistently used by the characters. The use of this line of reasoning always goes unchallenged in the plot of the series, meaning that it is likely the takeaway that the audience is meant to have. This comes with a whole host of problems, but let’s just focus on its use as a justification for this universe’s issues. Because as a justification for this universe’s issues, it is awfully bleak. It is effectively giving up on solving any deeply entrenched issue surrounding the happenings of the school, because why would you? If it is a mirror for the struggles of the real world, who cares that students are becoming worse people? They may be worse, but they do function in this image of society presented. Any meaningful action that runs counter to the school system is completely in vain. The hierarchy that the school is based around is most certainly not a meritocracy. However, this series is in the blind belief that it is.
This misunderstanding of what type of hierarchy the school system is extended to what it believes that Class D’s main goal should be. Class D, the point of view class, is looked down upon by those in the higher classes. What specifically puts them on the higher rungs of school life is their higher level of class points. For Class D to prove themselves, to prove their worth to the rest of the school, they need to work up the ranks. However, this is quite an unimaginative indicator of progression. While the class point system is something that is based on definitive numbers, it doesn’t track with what we see. There isn’t a tangible reason why those who are in Class D are at the bottom. They may be flawed people, but they don’t particularly represent the bottom class of society. Why are those in Class C, who so easily give up the school’s prized value of “independence” to follow an authoritarian leader, placed in a class above Class D. I call the main goal of Class D to work up and to become Class A unimaginative because it is the main goal that doesn’t acknowledge the flaws of a clearly broken system.
This type of unimaginative progression extends outside how the protagonist class interacts with the world, but with other classes. Class C’s head, Ryuen, has been portrayed as a primary antagonist since he framed Sudo for assault in the early episodes of Season 1. His brutal outlook on life has led to his iron-fisted rule of Class C, almost like a fascist leader. But the way that he is defeated by Ayanokouji in the Season 2 climax, is through a fight. In a series that hasn’t been focused on hand-to-hand combat at all up to this point, the climax is a fight. The way an antagonist is defeated, at least at the moment, is through the method that he parrots the most. While it may be satisfying to see Ryuen go down, and it may be the best-looking scene in an otherwise below-average-looking show, it is a terrible moment narratively. Ryuen isn’t learning anything from being taken down in this way because, in a sense, it is just further proving his outlook that the most violent one is the one on top. Ryuen’s worldview is just getting bolstered because Ayanokouji just defeats him by being a worse version of him. A fight is an unimaginative way to conclude this storyline because nobody can really develop as a character from it. But aside from what this means for Ryuen’s character, this is also the culmination of a long series of problems surrounding Ayanokouji.
The first scene of Classroom of the Elite Season 2, after the quote, is a scene where Manabu is told of Class D’s success in the Desert Island test. His first thought after hearing of Class D’s group success is, “How will you clear your next challenge, Ayanokouji?” This is quite an interesting response considering that he was told about the class’s success and not one of this individual person, but it makes sense in the broader context of Ayanokouji's place in Class D as well as as a protagonist in the story. Ayanokouji is portrayed as a cold, mysterious genius manipulating everything from the background as if everybody is a pawn. A “mastermind”, you might say. One issue with this is that it significantly undermines the accomplishments of Class D. By framing it in a way that makes it seem like the characters are just living in Ayanokouji’s world, it becomes harder to care to see the efforts of the rest of the class. The universe of the show is so concentrated on his character, that it can be difficult to really see many other main characters’ actions, like Horikita or Kei, as completion of their own. Whenever the series is discussing the upwards trajectory of Class D, I can’t really help but see it talking about the upwards progression of Ayanokouji. Having a protagonist-centered story is completely fine if executed well, but it can’t also have the shades of a world that is more suited for an ensemble-based narrative.
By constantly repeating that the school prepares its own students for greater society as an excuse to cover up its own problems, it is important to ask, what society is being referred to? The answer should be obvious, 2015. The modern day. But if my impression of modern-day society is correct or if Japan is an entirely different planet, this school would be terrible at preparing its students for modern-day society. The Special Exams alone more resemble games from a death game show compared to something about high school. But by repeating the fact that the school takes place in real society so much, it ends up causing issues. There are many points when it feels like we need to view the events of the series as if they were in a parallel universe where the laws of reality feel flipped among them. The Desert Island game and the VIP game are chief among those points in time. But we have been so conditioned as an audience to view the series through a realistic lens that this can’t work. And this ends up causing an issue with suspension of disbelief. Despite being an animated series where this really shouldn’t be an issue, a serious suspension of disbelief problem emerges. By attempting to ground itself in reality so much, it inadvertently causes the lens to view the show as not one of a fantasy school, but as a real one with real people. And as a real school with real people, it just doesn’t work. Way too many events, especially surrounding the Special Exams, completely fly in the face of what "realistic" is supposed to mean. And the one-dimensional characters, like Ayanokouji, Ryuen, and Kushida, become even worse as characters because you can’t take characters plucked straight from a cartoon seriously in realistic society.
Classroom of the Elite doesn’t want to be an anime about high school. It may have the word “classroom” in its title, but it doesn’t really feel like it wants to be one. I said earlier that the Special Exams resemble more of a game from a death game anime than a high school based anime, but that sentiment is important considering how frequent Special Exams are in the story. Out of the 25 episodes of Classroom of the Elite currently out now, 13 of them take place during a Special Exam. While there are some like the Sports Festival and the Paper Shuffle that are more reminiscent of something you’d see in an actual high school anime, the story more so plays into the “game” aspects of these events than the “school” aspects of it. The series spends so much time on these death game-esque Special Exams that I wonder if it just wants to be a death game. It is doubting its own potential as a high school anime. The school world that it has set up is never going to have its potential tapped, and it is completely unwilling to tap it in any capacity. It is also willing to have massive holes exist in the logic of the world. Its characters are also not at all suited for an anime aiming for any type of realism. And this attempt at realism is also causing massive suspension of disbelief disconnect. So why not just drop any pretense of realism to begin with?
It is obviously enjoying doing the whole death game schtick more than the high school schtick, so why can’t it just go all the way? Are the Special Exams even good as something that is a part of a death game? No, definitely not, they are full of their own holes created by their own overcomplexity. For example, the explanation for the VIP Game took around 4 minutes, only for Kei to say that she didn’t understand it. Lampshading doesn’t make the problem better. But by dropping the veil of a realistic high school anime, it could at least drop the most nagging issue of the series, being its world and its issue of suspension of disbelief. Its more one-dimensional characters would also be more forgivable because of the lack of the limitation of the school setting. It would be a more enjoyable series. Would it be a better series? Probably not. But it would certainly be far less infuriating. What I am basically suggesting is that the series should be more stupid, but a series that knows that it is stupid is better than one that is blind to it. I have lost so many brain cells to this series' own terrible version on realism and high school, that it is fun to fantasize about a version of it where these issues just doesn’t exist.
So if you want to know what I think Classroom of the Elite should’ve been, and probably wants to be instead, here you go. It may be too blind to see it at this point, but if anything, the Classroom of the Elite needs to get rid of the classroom.
Thank you for reading to the end of the review if you did. If you have any criticisms of how this review was made, you are free to message me or comment in this activity to critique what I had to say.
Also, please don’t like or dislike the review without reading it.